


dancing bears, painted wings

by viridian sprout (idyII)



Series: once upon a (I remember) [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending, F/F, Gen, Link remembers the wrong things, Multi, Repressed Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-24 15:54:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22080532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idyII/pseuds/viridian%20sprout
Summary: Zelda returns to him with a sword, a ritual, and a blessing. Link does not yet understand his future, but as they say, things get worse before they get better. Somehow she can still reach him and make him believe things truly will get better, though their attempt at refreshing his memories doesn't exactly go well.
Relationships: Link & Zelda (Legend of Zelda), Paya/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Series: once upon a (I remember) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589356
Comments: 1
Kudos: 34





	dancing bears, painted wings

Zelda was beside him. She was dressed as he was, save for her lack of mask. Link decided that was one of the things he liked most about the Sheikah wear- the masks. It felt like an additional barrier between him and the rest of the world. Zelda’s hair looked shorter, obscuring part of her face, which he got the feeling was some sort of subtle Sheikah magic than a real cut. He thought she would look good with short hair for real.

“You are almost finished with your training,” Impa was saying, _the both of you_ going unsaid. Link didn’t like the feeling that others felt they had to tiptoe around him. He didn’t want to overstay his welcome, either. But Impa was blunt, and he thought that she would say what she wanted to if need be. “After these three nights, you will be ready to return and take your rightful place. You will be ready to be crowned Queen of Hyrule.”

Zelda smiled. She looked nervous, but not as nervous as she once might have been. “Thank you, Impa. I am truly grateful for these weeks I have spent here.”

The pomp and ceremony was unnecessary, as the news had already spread that Zelda was there- that Hyrule was being restored- that people already referred to her as Queen. But Link thought she deserved a little pomp and ceremony in her honor, after everything she’d gone through for others.

And he would be there, her knight, to see her become Queen.

He stared at the grass, wishing it was some sort of blue or purple, as he strummed on the harp she’d brought with her. It was supposed to be a holy relic that she’d recovered from the ruins of the castle, passed down through generations, but it made pretty music, and that was what concerned him most. He was pretty used to holy relics and items at this point. There was one sitting in the shrine in Impa’s house, waiting for him to wield it again. As of now, he mostly used knives and a curved short sword the Sheikah had given him. Similarly, Zelda also liked knives, but she’d taken a shine to a long and thin blade that just seemed right in her hands.

A shuffle alerted him to her sitting down beside him on the grassy outcropping he’d taken to camping on. She’d slept there with him since she arrived, waving off the need for the most expensive room the Sheikah inn wanted to offer her. Beside her, she set a thick book with yellowing pages, something she’d been mildly secretive about- which was strange, as they kept nothing from each other. Link was not one to pry, however, and assumed that it was just something she wanted to keep for herself.

He understood that. Sometimes he went to his house in Hateno, a place where no one knew who he was beyond ‘the traveler who bought that house they were going to tear down,’ and just sat in the grass outside his front door where glowing crystals lit his path and stared at the sky. In those moments, he felt smaller, as if all his problems were outshined by the stars above, and it comforted him. Those little moments he liked to keep to himself.

“Have you remembered anything, Link?”

Link paused in his strumming. It disrupted the peacefulness of the atmosphere. Sighing, he shook his head.

She cast him a sympathetic glance. From anyone else, it might have stung a bit, but on her… “Well, I was thinking, since I do have my powers now…perhaps we could go up to the Great Fairy’s pond and try a blessing. Maybe it’ll help a little bit, you know? At the very least, it might be a bit relaxing.”

Well, he somehow doubted going to see the Great Fairies could be a relaxing venture, but he agreed anyway with a nod. He half doubted it would do anything, but Zelda wanted to try, so badly, to help him- and part of him, despite it all, sort of hoped he _would_ remember something.

* * *

The next morning, Link lingered outside of the inn watching a grouping of ants carry a large chunk of carrot over the pathway, inwardly encouraging them as they neared the grass. Ants were strong. Put together, they were even stronger- a team of ants could carry almost anything, he figured.

_A team…_

Ignoring the pang of hurt slowly rippling inside him, he glanced over to where Zelda was talking to Paya in front of a small field where they grew pumpkins. “I thought it might come in handy, just in case, you know,” the taller Sheikah was saying with a flush, twiddling her fingers as she glanced side to side. “They’re said to be good luck, and useful for blessings and such…”

Zelda smiled up at her. In her hands she held a small Sheikah totem, probably carved by Paya herself. Link could tell, despite Paya trying to downplay her contribution. It was carved with care and thought, with a delicate touch, from Paya’s hands. “Thank you dearly, Paya. I’m sure it will help. Did you make it yourself?”

“Oh, yes, but it was no trouble, truly. I…carve in my spare time.”

“Really? I would love to see what else you’ve made! Will you show me when we return later?”

Paya’s cheeks began to heat. It made Link a little happy, seeing someone else… _being_ happy. “Of course! Actually, I think I m-might have one you’d…like.”

“Oh, that’s excellent! I can’t wait! You seem like such an expert craftswoman. In fact…”

Link eventually tuned them out, not wanting to intrude on the conversation. He couldn’t help glancing over every now and then, though. Zelda eventually reached over and patted Paya on the hand, which made the Sheikah’s face turn bright, and Zelda herself turned a bit pink.

He looked up when he felt Zelda’s hand on his shoulder. Paya was walking away, hands clasped against her chest and smiling. Zelda stared down at him with an encouraging expression. “Are you ready to go, Link?” After he nodded, she smiled again. “I hope it helps at least a little.”

Link stood up and gave the ants one last look. “Me too,” he noted quietly, letting her link their arms together as they started up the path leading to the forest.

 _Don’t worry,_ she’d told him one night, stroking his hair in a way that felt all too familiar. _Things will get better._

The water felt soft when he sunk into it. The Great Fairy, blessedly, gave them a little privacy, just winking at him when Zelda explained and shrinking down into a size they couldn’t see to go somewhere. She left a bit of magic wafting through the air, now glittering above him, bright and pink and energizing.

Zelda placed her hands under his head, giving him a bit of assurance he wasn’t going to get off balance as he floated. She took a deep breath, and the water stilled a bit. Link closed his eyes, trying to let his body relax into the sensation.

“Goddess of Hyrule,” she began in a soft voice, one tone above a whisper, as she closed her own eyes, “great Hylia, protector of our lands and the soul of the Hero, hear me as I grant this blessing…”

The water felt as though it warmed, which was rather relaxing, and Link didn’t know if it was from her or the Great Fairy’s magic.

“…that he would regain some of himself, so as to comfort his Soul…”

Some of the tension bled from his shoulders. Listening to her voice wax on was pleasant, if nothing else was, and even more so because of how sure of herself she sounded now- none of the shame and regret her voice had held once when praying to the Goddess.

“…Hear me now and grant him the power to remember.”

And then he was falling.

* * *

Link was not himself, yet he was. He was falling through the skies, a deep sense of longing hidden behind the sudden fear it drove him into, then he was crashing into something that felt hot and molten. There was grass under his fingers when he pulled that burned away and then there was nothing but silence. He was cold, too cold to function, and he was alone, and then, looking at a sky that looked nothing like the sky should.

He remembered failing. He remembered regret. He remembered a beast too grand to stop, and then, the shrill scream that cut through everything else and cut him to the quick.

He came out of the water gasping, trying desperately to find something to hold onto, and didn’t hear Zelda’s worried cries as he struggled to the side and pulled himself to the leaves of the giant flower. He anchored himself there and focused on breathing in and out, barely noting when she came to him and took him in her arms, for the pond had become shallow as the Fairy peered at them worriedly from the other side, murmuring an “Oh dear.”

“Link, Link, it’s all right,” Zelda soothed, rubbing circles into his back. “Shhh. You’re here in Kakariko, at the Great Fairy fountain. It’s all right.”

Link closed his eyes and shuddered once again. That scream had been hers, but it hadn’t been, and yet it had, and he didn’t want to hear it again. He never wanted to hear it again.

She climbed over the side and helped him out. He collapsed onto the grass as soon as his feet hit it, quivering while she continued to hold and soothe him. He didn’t like feeling this weak, but there was nothing he could do- his body refused to listen to him.

“Shhhh,” Zelda whispered into his ear, softly stroking his back. “It’s all right now. We don’t have to do it again. We’ll go back to the village, dry off, and go by the stable, just you and I, go see Epona, and bring her some apples, all right?”

Link let his eyes slide shut. He somehow forced his racing heart to calm, raking in a haggard breath as he nodded, and told himself that this didn’t matter. Those were only memories, not the present. He needed to let it go.

“All right.”

They left, drenched and still shivering, and left the Great Fairy there with a pitying look on her face.

* * *

After that incident, Zelda felt unsure. She didn’t even know what it was Link had seen- she had asked, so very softly, if it was about their past, but he’d just shaken his head and said he didn’t want to talk about it. It was something frightening, she knew that, and something personal. She doubted it was something so simple as a past Hero’s battle with Ganon- Link had faced Ganon and won and had never even flinched. That meant it was worse than seeing the behemoth covering Hyrule Castle, and that did scare her a bit.

“Here you are, my lady,” Impa said as she slowly made her way over from the direction of the front door, cane tapping softly on the hardwood floor as Link slept. “I had one of the guards gather all the herbs you requested.”

“Thank you, Impa,” Zelda replied quietly. She wished dearly that there was some way to turn back the clock. It had been a while since she’d been able to spend time with Impa, when she’d been traveling with the Champions, but Impa had been her protector and guardian as a child.

She took the sack Impa offered her. She and Link had their bedrolls laid out on one of the rugs in the front room, after having politely declined the offer of a room. Something about being able to leave easily, with no trouble to anyone, just felt right.

“Impa,” she asked, voice still just as quiet, her eyes on her herbs, “do you think I’m doing the right thing?”

Impa hadn’t left, only stood there waiting; she probably knew Zelda wanted to ask something. “What I think does not matter, child, though I know that is not the answer you wanted. What feels right in your heart, from the holy light that resides within you, matters. I know you want what is best for him.”

Zelda glanced at Link’s slumbering form. He had a pleasant expression on, and she was glad, after what had happened at the fountain. She would have guessed he was dreaming about a field of blue Eponas and an endless supply of apples.

She glanced at her tome, and the ancient pages she had poured over countless times.

“I do,” she sighed. “I can only hope what I wish for works.”

“I believe the Goddess will bless you. When you tell him, child, take care to be honest. When baring one’s heart, your earnestness will reap your reward.”

Zelda smiled. Impa’s advice had always sounded a bit cryptic. She nodded in thanks as Impa left, probably to check on Paya and make sure she wasn’t still up carving after Zelda had mentioned wanting a carved figurine of a horse.

 _Things will be all right,_ she thought as she laid back down, rolling over and pulling up her blanket. _That is all I can hope and believe right now. I can only believe that the Goddess will smile upon us once more._

She and Link were adrift in a hollow-feeling world, and she so dearly hoped her attempt to make them an anchor would work.


End file.
